According to a recent joint report presented by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), young people between the ages of 15 and 29 account for 26% of the total population in Latin America and the Caribbean — while one-third of these youth live in conditions of stark poverty. Moreover, 16% of young people are not integrated into the education system or job market.
The UN report, which offers a demographic profile of the region’s youth and an analysis of extreme poverty levels, examined youth’s lack of access to education and employment, as well as a related absence of community engagement. With this sector of youth, and even younger children, falling into the most vulnerable population in Latin America, institutions are calling for major investments in basic services and education. Young women and those in rural areas, as well as those belonging to indigenous or Afro-descendant communities, are at added risk.
Additionally, a large segment of youth are plagued by rising rates of teenage pregnancy, informal work, or no activity at all. According to the report, “This group, known as ‘the ni-ni generation’ [from the expression in Spanish ‘ni estudiar ni trabajar', ‘not studying, neither working'] because of being left out of both the education system and the market, denotes a persisting structural mechanism of social exclusion.” ECLAC and UNFPA make clear that this type of ‘double exclusion’ will continue to have devastating ramifications for the entire population if neglected. However, stakeholders hope that the report’s bleak results will serve as a sounding board and a reference tool to inform and galvanize policymakers.
At-risk Latin American and Caribbean youth must have access to education opportunities in order to break inter-generational cycles of poverty and stagnation. Investment in this sector cannot come soon enough.
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